Chapter 18

Leo breathe a sigh of relief when he saw Claire, he was afraid that she might have left for her apartment before he gets back. She gave them a warm smile; actually her warmth was directed at Liam, telling him how good it is to see him after all these months. Tonya was already asleep, as it is past her bed time, seeing it’s a school night.

Liam decline dinner claiming he is tired and that he will be retiring for bed early. Leo knew his brother is giving them the privacy they needed, to talk things out. He showed Liam where he will be staying for the night.

“If she is still here after what she knows, I’m sure she loves you Leo.” Liam assures him quietly the moment they were alone in the guest room, patting his back.

“I truly hope so, because I don’t know what I will do if she decided not to marry me again.”

“Just say the truth, lay all your cards on the table. If she’s truly the right woman for you and loves you, then she will forgive you eventually. Now go to her, I’m sure she’s waiting for you. I need to call Lola.”

“Goodnight Liam, send my regards to her and the kids.

“Sure. Goodnight brother” closing the door after Leo.

Liam sighs, sitting down on the bed. He is worried about Leo and Claire, but hopefully they get to resolve things between them. Claire seems like a woman with good head on her shoulders, and he has a strong faith in Leo. He hope in the morning he will wake up to good news and not to have to be the one to tell the old man that a wedding is not going to happen after all.

He had to admit that he was taken aback when he first heard about the law and tradition, that states that a prince who has an illegitimate child must claim the child as his own the moment he knows about, and he must take care of the mother as well, but nothing about marriage or going impotent was stipulated. So when Leo came to him, asking him if the tradition is true he said yes. He was sure the king was up to his game, but he can’t blame the old man he just want all his sons to be settled. So he refrained from telling Leo the truth, but he confronted their father about it and like he had suspected their father was hoping to milk the situation to his benefit.

The investigate he carried out on Claire gave him assurance that she is not a gold-digger and by the time he met her in person Liam was certain that she is the right woman for his brother.

Now it may seem like their little lie is about to backfire.

*******

LEO FOUND HER IN THE ART ROOM, staring at the finished painting he has been working on. The painting is finished finally.

“I see that you have finally finished with the painting” she said quietly, not looking at him.

“Yes” he mutters.

“It’s beautiful. The back of that woman besides our daughter sure looks a lot like me.”

“that’s because it’s you, do you like it?” he ask with weariness, coming to stand behind her, not sure why they are discussing about a painting when she must have a lot of question running through her mind.

“Sure I like it, just not sure why I’m in the painting when it’s obvious that what you would have preferred is for me not to be in the picture it’s a complication you don’t need nor want”

“Why will you say such horrible thing” gently grasping her shoulder, turning her around to face him, away from the painting. “You are not a complication, I promise you” he mutters

“Are you sure about that?” Claire snorted. “I think we both know that if it’s not because of the damn laws and tradition of your people, you won’t marry me. I know you love your daughter and you will not want anything bad to happen to her, but it will be easier if the mother is not thrown into the mix” she said, holding his gaze pointedly.

“Please let me explain”

“Imagine my surprise when I heard that marrying me will free you from the curse of going impotent, and we both know that you can’t let that happen, seeing how much you enjoyed the company of beautiful women.” She continued ignoring his plea. “I was foolish to think you will want to marry me because you felt something for me. I don’t aim too high to think you will fall in love with me, but I hope you cared truly for me. Now I realize you getting married to me because you have no other choice and that hurt a lot. I don’t want to be in a marriage with someone that had to do it against their will, though it hurt me to say this, but I don’t think we should be getting married” she declares with a sad resolve.

“Are you done?”

“Yes I am”

“Now come sit, and here me out” pulling her to the couch in the room. ”after that if you still think we should not be married then I won’t push it.” He said solemnly, taking his sit beside her.

“Go ahead”

“I will start by saying that I am sorry for the pain I caused you, it was never my intention to do that, haven said that, I will now tell you the whole truth and please keep an open mind.” He continued after he had her consent. “I was shocked and surprised when I heard about you and Tonya, and nothing prepared me for seeing you again after have tried to forget you, because I must tell you that you left a mark in my heart the first night together. I could not believe that I will see you again, talk less of now having a child with you. It was love at first sight for me though I didn't realize it. When I saw our daughter, I was ready to do anything for her, but I was not ready for marriage, not with you or with any woman anytime soon.

But when my father told me that there’s a law that stipulates that, a prince must not have an illegitimate child without claiming the child. The moment he knows about it, he must give the child his name, including marrying the mother, and if he refuses, the child will be cursed and so will he. He will become impotent. If he did not know about the existence of the child its different but the moment he knows, and he is not willing the curse comes into play” he sighs rubbing his eyes.

At first I refused because it does not make one bit of sense, I asked Liam who also knows about our laws and tradition very well, since he is the crown prince. He told me it is the truth”

“so you decided to save yourself most especially from the curse of becoming impotent, because if its only about our daughter you would have told me from the beginning, no matter how ridiculous I find your African theory to be—”

“Please listen, let me finish” sighing.

“Continue”

“Thank you. At first that was the main reason why I wanted to marry you. I can’t imagine being impotent, and you can’t blame me for thinking about myself, imagine if someone tells you that, your womb will be taken from you, also I thought about our daughter, she’s innocent in all of these. So I thought to myself that the best thing to do is to marry you, besides I was very much attracted to you anyway. When I first asked you to marry me and you rejected me, I was furious and scared at the same time, because my situation is dire. So I decided to seduce you, hoping to make you fall in love with me so hard that when I ask you to marry me again you will not say no, but what I did not expect is for me to fall in love with you in the process.”

“I guess you’ve achieved your aim, because I did fall in love with you.” She said with sadness lacing her words.

“You love me?” Leo’s eyes lit up with joy, grasping her hands in his.

“Yes”

“Claire why are you sad, I just told you that I’m in love with you as well”

“I heard you Leo, but I don’t believe you. You should have told me the truth from the beginning. You want to tell me that if I refuse to marry you, that you will let me go? Knowing that you may become impotent? Leave Tonya out of the equation. Let’s assume that it’s just about you, will you still be hell bent on this marriage proposal?”

“Truthfully I will not let you go”

“I knew it” pushing his hands away.

“I will not let you go because you and Tonya are my life, not because I’m scared of going impotent but because I’m more scared of living a life without both of you in it. Can’t you see that I’m crazy about you? I will do anything for you, including moving here.” Reclaiming her hands. “Believe me Claire, I love you with all my heart, have never said those words to any woman, except my mother” his eyes pleading with her to believe him.

“I don’t know what to believe, the other night you said you want a wife that will be like your mother, it’s obvious I’m just a second choice.” She mutters.

“Never! You are not a second choice, you are my choice and I’m sure my mother would have loved you if she were to be alive. What you did not know is this—you behave like her at times, so full of life and you are not moved by the fact that I’m a prince. My mother said something to me while growing up, that the woman I will eventually marry will be a woman that will be able to tame me, and will not give a damn about who I am, and you didn’t, and that’s why I fell in love with you, plus you gave me a beautiful daughter”

“You really mean that?” she whispered.

“Yes, I love you Claire and I want to marry you for that sole reason. My only regret is that I did not try harder the first time we met, we could have been married with many kids now.” He mutters.

“Oh Leo! I love you so much” flinging her arms around him. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you too after our first night together, but I didn’t want to appear clingy and with everything that happened to my mum, I tried to move on. The moment I saw you again I knew the old feeling will resurface and they did, I was scared as well, because I don’t want to fall in love with a playboy prince that will not feel the same way about me. The moment you moved here I knew my heart was in trouble, seeing you almost every day, I couldn’t help it. I fell in love with your charm, care and of course the way you love our daughter.” Drawing back, to gaze at him. “I love you Leo”

“I love you Claire Braithwaite”

“Point of correction, Claire Braithwaite Gbadegesin”

“You will marry me? Despite everything?”

“Yes I will marry you” smiling at him.

“Thank you so much, I love you” kissing her with all the love and passion he feels for her.